RWBY Melting Pot - M Version
by rwby1989
Summary: List of ideas for possible stories in the future. Mostly Jaune-centric, but will occasionally show others as the main characters and possible OC in the future. This tackles ideas with themes that may be dark or adult with the occasional blood and violence, thus the M-rating. If you have any ideas wanting to be posted, PM or comment (within reason).
1. Introduction

**Welcome to RWBY Melting Pot! (The M-rated version)**

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Hello there, this is rwby1989. For those who read my other storybook, Hello again (Pyrrha standing behind while waving her hand). To first time readers, I welcome you to my story ideas and here is a short summary of what I am dealing with.

This is a storybook that will list ideas that would tackle dark themes, adult themes, violence and a fair bit more blood than the normal rating can achieve, thus my M-Rating of this story on the site. These ideas would be spanning from cannon to different Alternative Universes, and they would mostly be Jaune-centric. There are some ideas I have in mind that would be featuring others as the main characters, but as stated they will be featuring mostly Jaune as the main guy. If you guys out there have ideas, you may drop a comment or a message and I would see if it is possible to make it a reality.

As for writing the ideas into stories themselves, here is the deal. I can write some on my own and I am open to people who would want to adopt the ideas I have and make them into full-fledged stories, so if anyone wishes to adopt them, they just need to drop a message in the inbox and depending on the number of requests, I would give the idea out to the one most suited for it. I will then write on the top of the page that the story is adopted.

Before continuing on, I will make this very clear to anyone who wish to have an idea given to me. I have guidelines to follow and I would like you guys to respect that. These guidelines are as such:

1) **No Yaoi / Yuri requests** \- Seriously, I get we have pairings like Bumblebee, White Rose and stuff, but I won't be writing those please.

2) **No Betrayal / Hate fics** \- I am referring to those Jaune / Ruby betrayal fics where everyone wants to make their lives miserable and kills them or something. I do not do this at all.

3) **No hardcore smut -** We have regulations for reasons. If you guys seriously want this, I _might_ make a separate storybook for lime / lemon reading. Else this stays clean.

4) **No hardcore gore / violence** \- I don't want to give myself or other nightmares, thank you very much!

If that is understood, we can now commence with the story ideas! Onward HOH!


	2. Dancers at Night

**Disclaimer:**

The works of Rooster-Teeth and their characters are their own and that of the mighty Oum. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Oum Damn It!

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 **Date Published:** 15th July 2017

 **Title:** Dancers at Night (Working Title)

 **Genre:** Modern, Semi College AU, no Grimm or terrorists

 **Description:**

 _Pyrrha and her friends wear different masks for the world, one for college, one for her cover job and one for her real job. But she might have trouble handling her real emotions when a certain scraggly blond comes into the picture._

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The scents of cheap beer and cigarettes filled the dimly lit room amidst the sounds of sensual club music and the wolf-whistling of men. The men of various ages looked on with excitement and lust in their eyes at the lone woman who was dancing on the platform in front of them, mesmerizing them with her full-bodied tanned figure that was barely having her modesty protected with a small string bikini, her movements around the pole that was provocative yet eye-catching, and finally the air of mystery that was increased with the mask that covered the top portion of her face while allowing her dark hair to sway around even when tied up in a ponytail. The smirk adorned on her face as she swung around the pole was indicative that she knew the effect she had on them and she enjoyed it.

As per usual, the men would attempt to try and reach out for her body only to be rebuffed. One of the youngest was the closest to touch her, but the woman smacked the hand playfully and wiggled her finger while teasing him with her breasts pressed together with her arms as she bent down. Then at the climax of the music, she grabbed the pole and swung around it with her legs wrapped tightly before leaning back, using her legs as her grip and leaving her arms free to spread them open.

The men all rose to their feet and gave their cheers while depositing their money by the dozen into the basket tray around the platform. The woman in question unravelled herself from the pole and bowed lightly before making her way to the end of the platform, swaying her hips to make them entranced and give up more of their cash. Pausing at the curtains, she turned her head to give them one last entrancing smile before going behind the curtains and walking off to a hidden door that she walked through and closed, locking it securely before continuing.

It was after walking through the corridor that lead to a junction connecting to other rooms that she stopped walking. She turned behind her to make sure none of the customers tried to follow her before letting out a sigh.

"Thank goodness that is over." The woman took off the mask to reveal a face that looked to be in her late teens and rubbed her forehead, taking deep breaths to clear her lungs of the cheap alcohol and smoke. Her mask was equipped with a device that filtered the air that she breathed through, ensuring she would not inhale much if not all of the contaminants, but it was something she did to control her emotions and clear her mind. Despite this being her occupation, she wanted no memory of the men who looked at her with such lustful eyes in her dreams.

"Hey, done with your shift, Callista?" She lifted her eyes to find one of her fellow colleagues calling her by her stage name while walking towards her in another scantily clad outfit that seemed to resemble a cross between a maid's clothing with a school uniform. The woman in question was one with tanned skin and wavy crimson hair, on top of which she had two cat ears that twitched in her direction.

"Yup, and I'm guessing you too, Crimson?" Callista asked to which the girl nodded her head. The sounds of chatter attracted their attention to a few of their co-workers who were walking down their separate aisles in various types of clothing that no mother would want their daughters to wear in public. Callista smiled lightly at the sight of her two friends and waved to get their attentions.

"Hey there, how's your night?" One of them asked as she came to her in a similar outfit that was basically a string black bikini that just barely protected her modesty and the bra was straining to contain her most notable assets. Her hair was bunched up into a ponytail and she had several patterns on her body to help people focus on her figure.

"It was fine." Callista nodded while turning to the other one. "How's yours, Frost?"

"It is not a problem." The second of the pair answered as she used the riding crop she had to push the fake glasses on her face while flicking her dark hair. She was arguably the second most dressed of the four, wearing what would be considered a business suit if not for the blatant exposure of her front and the absurdly short skirt that showed off her leggings and her underwear if she should bend down lightly. "A bit of a ruckus but it was manageable."

"Bravo my dears, you girls were making a killing out there tonight!" The group turned to find a man who would likely scar people's mind on first impressions. He was a huge man with ostentatious purple hair tied in a ponytail, bulging muscles and a moustache that curled at the ends, but the clothes he wore clashed violently with his figure. He was wearing an open shirt with frills around the collar and the sleeves, and a skirt that showed very hairy legs. Combined that with a flamboyant behaviour and you have a guy who could send any disgruntled customers to the hospital for physical and mental trauma.

But for them, he was their boss, their caretaker, and someone whom they could count on to protect their interests, bodies and their well-being. He made absolutely sure that they were treated proper and anyone who dared to touch or hurt them in any manner would be introduced to either himself or his security guards who would be more than willing to enforce the rules of the club.

"You girls are certainly the stars tonight! And in time for our regular retreat!" The man cooed as he grabbed his hands and wiggled his body weirdly, something that would no doubt horrify people at his body language but one these girls were used to. "But enough of me talking, let's get you girls out of those clothes and makeup! We must wash off the stains of tonight's entertainment!" The man gestured to the door at the left. "The communal rooms are finally fixed so all of you can finish off quickly. I shall prepare the transports for you." The girls thanked him happily and made a mad dash to the showers, creating a slight pileup at the doorway as two in particular tried to muscle their way through. Callista and her three friends were able to get in first and made sure to get the necessary items before entering the showers.

Callista took off her outfit and turned the tap to get the shower going, sighing in delight as the hot water soothed her body. After a while she pressed a button to release a special cleaning agent to mix with the water. With a cursory glance, she watched her skin starting to flake and pale as the cleaning agent made contact with the special Dust coating she covered her body with to hide her identity. Grabbing some shampoo, she started to scrub her hair to remove the grim and sweat, while ensuring the cleaning agent was also interacting with it. Washing it thoroughly with the hot water, she nodded at the sight of her hair now returning to the original colour of crimson red and her skin now showing its natural tone.

Once the special dust was removed and all the telling signs of her work was complete, she put on her normal clothes and sprayed on some perfume to hide any lingering scents, before making her way out of the showers and into the common room where they were to wait for the vans. She did not need to wait too long for the others to come out from the showers and for their respective vans to arrive. Once she and her three friends entered the vehicle, their driver started the long and complicated drive to their respective drop-off points to throw off any customer who were more bull-headed to come after them. It was a few minutes later that one of them spoke.

"So, how much do you think we earned? I reckon I got at least a couple of thousands." The now blonde-haired buxom girl wearing a zipped jacket and tight jeans leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head as she smiled giddily.

"That won't be a surprise, Yang. Your theme tonight was by far the most provocative of the lot." Frost who was now a pale girl with a white ponytail and light blue clothes remarked with a huff as she addressed her colleague with her real name. "I could almost hear all the men screaming from my booth, Scarron had to get more of the guards to your side to ensure that they don't get any funny ideas."

"Not that I can't take care of myself, but I do appreciate the sentiment. There were a few getting a little too bold earlier. Not to mention quite a number of erections that I could do without." Yang nodded her head in agreement before leering at the pale girl. "How about you Weiss? Punished any bad boys earlier?" That question brought a blush to the pale girl's face but she managed to reply back with a straight expression.

"Well, there were a few who would likely need some new pants, and a few others in need of major counselling." Weiss shuddered at the memory. "Honestly, I seriously question the minds of some of the men in Vale. One of them was literally panting while calling me 'mistress' all the way."

"At least you two had more guards looking over you, I had to handle my customers carefully with only one guard." The cat Faunus remarked as she settled in her chair to read her book. Without her disguise, she had long black hair with a bow to hide her ears with pale skin and wore a white shirt with a dark jacket on top and tight jeans to show off her legs. "Thankfully I got enough cash from my previous acts so Scarron decided to play safe and send in fewer customers tonight."

"Didn't Scarron put you into the 'Watcher's Room', Blake?" Callista raised an eyebrow at her. "That should have some reinforced barriers installed right?"

"Indeed, but it does not stop some of the more determined individuals." Blake remarked as she flipped a page of her book. "Also it is safe to say that we won't be using that room for at least a week as Scarron would likely want to get it fumigated and sterilized thoroughly." Blake briefly showed a disgusted frown. "There are some stains sticking to the windows that really need to be removed at all costs." To that the others gave their own expressions of repulsion, even the driver let out a disgusted grunt at her story.

"Okay moving on to our final contestant." Yang clapped her hands to dispel the mood and turned to the crimson-haired girl. "How was your gig Pyrrha? Sounds like you were drawing in quite a number." The now named Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"Tonight's pole dancing theme was quite a crowd pleaser, I am guessing that I have enough to last me for the next few months." Pyrhha paused as she took out her phone to check a message she just got. "Well Yang, looks like you are right on the money. The four of us managed to rake in close to a couple of million alone!"

"That's good!" Yang pumped her fist in joy. "I could finally buy the upgrades I need for my bike."

"Yes that is important." Weiss rolled her eyes. "But at least the club and the studio can get the necessary fixes done, the fire from last time took out quite a fair bit of the studio and we have to restrict our activities to keep up the act that we are not able to use the studio. There have been some people asking where we go for our dance lessons."

"That is true, at least we can get back our cover and do both our jobs." Pyrrha said thinking about her cover as a dance instructor. It helped with the legal side and deflect anyone looking into the seedier side of their work.

"We have reached Anchor's point." The driver called out as he slowed the van down next to a series of buildings.

"Well, here's my stop." Pyrrha grabbed her bag and exited out of the van. "See you at the academy then."

"Have a good night!" Yang called out while Weiss and Blake nodded their agreement. Pyrrha waved back as she watched the van drive off, before making her way into the building where she stayed in. Entering the elevator, she pressed the button before leaning back on the wall and letting out a tired sigh, thinking back to her work and other matters.

It had been 8 months since she started working at the club as stripper slash pole dancer, and if she were honest, she was surprised at how well adjusted she had gotten after the first couple of months, being able to slip into her persona of a confident woman who could make men get down on their knees and made them cough up their money as they attempt to get close to her body. It was practically second nature to her and it was scarily simple to act out as a different person.

Then again it was not surprising considering she wore a different mask both at the academy she was studying and at her cover job.

To the outside world, she was Pyrrha Nikos, the top academy student, competition sportsman and dancer of Beacon Academy. Her grades were among the top ranks and her talents in the dancing club were well recognised to the point of getting some scholarships. Factor in her good looks and she ended up becoming one of the most popular girls around.

She loathed the attention she got at the academy, with the people who wanted to be friends just so they could be associated with her and get gifts. It was ironic since the job she took would expose her to a different sort of attention, but there was something she hated when using her public persona to interact with the students. Unlike the men in the club who openly showed their lust for her body, the ones at the academy hid their intentions to get close, making it impossible to make real friends. Especially for the male student body who wanted to 'score' with her.

Maybe that was the reason Pyrrha could get along with Yang and the others, since they too were the popular girls and they also entered the same line of work at the same time as her, each of them having some interest in different styles of dancing and wanting to let loose some tension from everyday life, wanting to be somebody they had to repress at times.

The light pining of the lift doors broke her thoughts temporarily as she noted that she had arrived at her level. She got out of the lift and slowly made her way to her apartment, letting her thoughts drift again.

There had been close calls in the past where people would try to find her or the others at where they worked, but they had been careful in keeping up the masquerade. It was stressful in a way, but Pyrrha would not want all of her effort to go away, or her workplace that was becoming a bit of a sanctuary to be taken away.

She did not want the academy to know of her activities for fear of removing her scholarships.

She did not want her parents to learn of this for fear of their reactions.

She did not want the arrogant jocks and despicable people like Cardin and his gang to learn of this for fear of being blackmailed into questionable service.

And above all on the list, there was one person she desperately wanted to make sure that her secret was not revealed to at all.

"URG! Come on you stupid key, where are you?!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Pyrrha turned around the corner to find her neighbour struggling to hold what looked to be bags of groceries in one arm while searching his pockets with another, with more bags around him and taking up a good portion of the corridor. It made for quite a comical sight as the young man whose face was hidden from the bags was literally balancing on one leg, moving in time with the swaying bags and occasionally panicking as the bags threatened to fall out and dropped to the ground. Pyrrha merely chuckled and made her way to him, stepping over some of the more bulky items before grabbing some from his arm. "Need a hand Jaune?"

At her voice the young man paused in his movements before he peeked from behind the small tower of bags, revealing messy blonde hair and one blue eye which widened at her appearance.

"Pyrrha! Hey there!" He called out before yelping as the tower started to sway again. "Sorry for the trouble but could you help me balance these for a while? I need to find my keys." Pyrrha merely grabbed a few more to lighten the load, allowing him to search his pockets quickly. With a triumphant sound he produced the apartment key and quickly opened the door, depositing the ones in his arms at the nearby counter before coming to take the ones from Pyrrha.

"Let me." Pyrrha stepped in to deposit her lot before going for the rest.

"Sorry about this." Jaune apologized with a sheepish look as he took on his share of the groceries.

"No problem, from the looks of it, you seem to have come to a windfall recently." Pyrrha peered into the bag she had in her hands. "You even managed to get hold of some Vacuo fruits, those are expansive!"

"No kidding, I was lucky that pay-check came from the three jobs I have at the same time! Not to mention the supermarkets are having a special sale going on at discounted pricings." Jaune motioned to the pile as he brought in the last of the bags. "At least I got quite a number to last me the next few months, not to mention sending some back home."

"I am sure your family would be happy for some of the produce." Pyrrha nodded as she peeked through the bags. "But make sure you have enough for yourself."

"No problem." Jaune let out one loud exhausted yawn as he stretched his arms. "Glad I got this all back here." Turning to Pyrrha, he smiled while gesturing to the kitchen. "How about I cook you something? I haven't had my dinner yet and I am guessing you do not as well." Pyrrha wanted to refuse politely but her body betrayed her by letting out a very loud growl. Jaune chuckled as the girl grabbed her stomach with a blushing face. "Would pasta work for you?"

"… Yes please." She stammered as he went into the kitchen to start making their dinner. She went to prepare the table and the cutlery as he swiftly boiled the pasta while making the sauce. As always she had to wonder how quickly he could move about in the small kitchen without knocking into anything and ensuring that the food items were done properly, which would explain how he was able to get a cooking job at the nearby store. In no time at all, dinner was ready and he dumped them onto two plates and made his way to the table, giving thanks for her assistance.

"Late night at the dance studio?" He asked as he set both their plates down and moved to sit. Pyrrha paused for a moment, wondering how to tell him about her work.

"Yes, we have a few customers who really enjoyed our dancing, they held us back quite a few hours." Pyrrha spoke with a shrug. It was partially the truth.

"Well, that is good news right? It helps to deal with last month's issue." Jaune replied totally unaware of her job. "If I recall, you had a bit of run-in with some gang that trashed your studio."

"Yes that's right." Pyrrha thought back to the time when a motorcycle group that tried to be a tad too frisky with them got kicked out of the club. They were furious and returned with Molotov cocktails to set the club ablaze. Thankfully it was only superficial but it did put a damper on profits as they had to close the club and the studio for a month to fix it. Mostly superficial so that they could keep up the act.

"I really hope you do well." Jaune nodded as he took another bite of his dinner. "Maybe I can drop by next time?" Jaune took the moment to get up and grab a drink for the both of them, thus missing the panicked expression on Pyrrha's face.

"That might be a bit of a problem. It seems the gang heard about the club getting back on its feet and they want to have another crack at it." Pyrrha said while wincing inwardly at the blatant lie. "My boss is getting some security cameras in the area in light of the situation, but I am not sure if you should come around to be on the safe side, at least until they are arrested."

"Oh, I see. That's a shame." Jaune remarked as he sat back down. "Still I would like to see one of your dance moves. It would be quite interesting."

"… Do you really want to see me dance?" Pyrrha blushed lightly at his admission.

"Well, I have heard that you are very nimble on your feet and that you have captivated quite a few people." Jaune spoke while scratching his head. "So I got a little curious and watched a video of you dancing at the competition a couple of years back, and it was really good. One of my younger sisters actually wanted to follow your footsteps and go on to be a dancer."

"I see." Pyrrha blushed heavier at the idea that his little sister wanted to be like her, as a proper dancer. "Well I guess I can show you some moves after dinner." She realized a little too late that she worded that with a very sultry tone that she normally used on her job, and that got Jaune choking a little on the food. "I'm sorry!" She panicked and patted his back while grabbing the cup of water for him to drink. He quickly took a huge gulp before letting out a few more coughs and taking a deep breath.

"Hah~ that's better." He let out a relieved sigh.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha bowed her head down in shame again.

"It's okay, I'm not hurt." Jaune tried to dissuade her fears. "Blame my brain for going into the gutter there. You should consider going into voice acting, I think the manner you did it could be really convincing."

"It was meant to be a joke." She covered her face to prevent him from seeing the blush that was covering her entire face while mentally berating herself at her slip. "I did not mean to sound so~ so naughty!"

"It is fine." Jaune smiled brightly at her. "But I think we can leave the dancing to another time. For now, let's continue with the meal."

Pyrrha nodded while still blushing as they continued eating their meals in silence, her heart aching for different reasons.

Aching in joy that she could enjoy this quiet moment with him.

Aching in pain for having to lie to him.

Aching in embarrassment at their conversation.

Aching in excitement at the idea of showing him her regular dancing.

And aching in fear that he would look at her in disgust if he ever found out the truth of her job.

For those reasons, she made sure to keep her secret from him no matter how much it hurt, in order to keep that moment of happiness for her.

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Hello there, this is the first M-rated idea I decided to write out for you guys. This will be a Pyrrha-centric fiction with Yang, Blake and Weiss as the supporting cast set in the modern universe, so no Grimm or huntsman. Jaune will be the 'normal' aspect of their lives, him being oblivious to their line of work and their interactions will be interpreted in their own point-of-views. Main pairing is Arkos, and maybe slow burnings of Knightshade, Dragon Slayer and possible White Knight.

White Fang will be a street gang of sorts. Some of the other male characters will be written slightly OC due to the nature of the story.

I got the inspiration from reading the early chapters of Couer's 'The Entertainer', and other fics from here and AO3 that I am embarrassed to say are smut fics where the authors have the girls come in for each chapter to strip, dance and for some authors, somehow get into an orgy. I noted that for long fics, Jaune is usually the character to be the stripper/prostitute due to him growing up in the industry (Couer's) or because of the stupid betrayal/expulsion bullshit, while the short fics will feature the girls for those quick smut moments. So I decide to break tradition and create this story where the four main girls are the dancers and they had to deal with hiding their identities.

This is a rough concept, so please R-&-R, I would like some opinions for this. Let me know if you want more one-shot ideas of this or perhaps a fully story.

And I put my pen down for now.


	3. The Arcadian Code

**Disclaimer:**

The works of Rooster-Teeth and their characters are their own and that of the mighty Oum. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Oum Damn It!

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 **Date Published:** 19th August 2017

 **Title:** The Arcadian Code (Working Title)

 **Genre:** Action Adventure, Set in a semi-modern Dan Brown inspired AU with no Grimm, still have White Fang.

 **Description:**

 _A famous historian was found murdered in a museum, a computer virus plagues the Atlas Network, and chatter of an ancient order coming back from the bloodiest depths of history rang through the crime network. Amidst of it all is a young student who finds himself in the center of a conspiracy that involves research that his mentor left behind about an old kingdom. But can he stay alive while breaking the code his mentor left him, not knowing whom to trust and whether he would be in time to save the world?_

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The bespectacled man with messy green hair panted heavily as he made his way through the museum, one bloodied hand to steady himself with the walls and railings, the other to curb the spilling of blood as it dripped on the ground, each drop signifying his reducing life essence.

 _'There is not much time.'_ The man winced in agony as he paused to catch his breath, risking a quick glance at his wounds. On the one hand it was wearisome, each alternate step shooting pain into his body and threatening to take him down and let the reaper take him away. On the other hand it helped to distract him, making him alert enough to accomplish what needed to be done.

 _'They wanted to get the information from me, that's why they haven't touched any of the vital organs. I cannot let them have it.'_

The man started to move to the desired point, his determination renewed and his mind set on the purpose at hand. He managed to get to the art gallery when he heard the dreaded sounds: the pounding of feet and raised voices that was getting closer.

"Darn it!" With a quiet apology to the curator of the museum and the sculptor, he pushed a statue off its podium, setting off the alarms as the statue toppled and broke into many pieces. The security gates came crashing down, cutting off his escape routes but more importantly keeping the men after him.

 _'This will only give me a few minutes at best.'_

The man made his way to one of the museum's most priced pieces of artwork at the farthest end of the room, his strength finally giving up and making him fall to the ground with a loud thump. He groaned in pain as he dragged himself to the wall, using one arm to push himself up and steady himself against the wall, using his vantage point to look at the security gate where he could see through his broken specs some of the men after him. Each one of them wore dark robes and white-masks and wielded guns and knives, but they could not do anything against the Dust-laced security gates.

Suddenly the group split to the sides, leaving room for the person at the back to make her way to the front, stopping just outside of the gate to glare at him through the glass. The man could vaguely see in the dark corridor her emerald hair and street clothes that bore the signs of burns resulting from the little distraction he made with the Bunsen burner and chemicals in another part of the museum.

"Nowhere to run, Professor Oobleck." The girl called out in a singalong tone.

"It is Doctor." The man replied back while spitting out blood.

"You know you are wasting your efforts and your life trying to escape from us." The girl ignored his reply and continued to talk while placing a hand on her rather generous hips. "All we want is the information and location of the item."

"You really don't get it." Oobleck gave a defiant glare at her. "You have wasted your time and effort to get to me, but as I have mentioned, I don't know what you want."

"You are a silly man, you know that? We know you have uncovered the location of the lost kingdom and more importantly, the tomb of the late king." The girl replied back. "Your documents is being decoded as we speak, but you do have the habit of retaining vital information only until the actual reveal, and that I'm afraid is something my boss does not like."

"Well she needs to have patience, if she wanted to see the great reveal." He taunted as he gasped loudly, the pain shooting through his body being more profound now that he had stopped moving.

"Perhaps, or you could tell us." The emerald-haired girl took out her scroll and tapped a few buttons before directing the screen at him, revealing a photo of himself with a smiling woman in a dress wrapped around his arms. "Otherwise we could just have a chat with your wife. I believe she can be very cooperative." For a moment there was a deep silence, then it got broken by the man who laughed softly while coughing out blood.

"I will admit, that was a good trick, you almost have me there. Just one problem." Oobleck smiled with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "She's already elsewhere. I knew this expedition was going to cause trouble so I sent her away. And here's the thing, she is way better at hiding her tracks than me. Good luck finding her."

"Oh, are you sure?" The girl raised an eyebrow while lightly shaking the scroll. "We could have gotten to her while having our little session~"

"Oh I am sure. If you want something from me, here's one." Oobleck raised a hand and flipped a bloody bird while letting his mouth run loose for once. "You can go and fuck yourself."

"Tch! Fine if that is how you want to play it, you can rot in this area." The girl glared at him before getting the others to leave. She paused before looking back one last time. "I guess it does not matter whether you talked to us or not, you merely delayed the inevitable. We would just have to find another translator for your research." With that she left, leaving him alone in the empty museum, waiting for the Grim Reaper to come and claim him. The man merely coughed as he rested his head and closed his eyes while focusing on his breathing.

 _'I can't die yet, the secret must be passed on.'_

Those words were echoing in Oobleck's mind as he struggled to keep conscious, thinking of a way to relay the information, but even if it could be done, it would be useless to the group protecting the most guarded secret and it might be too late by then.

 _'We would just have to find another translator for your research.'_

His eyes went wide open as his assailant's voice echoed in his mind. That was it, the person ideal for the job would have to be one who could understand the ancient symbols of the lost kingdom, and someone who could bring the information to the protectors and more importantly, know the true meaning behind the lore that involved the disappearance of the kingdom.

But that in itself was a problem. First and foremost, there were not too many who could read the ancient Valean text, mostly on the basis that there was no reason to read up on the text, gunning more for ancient artifacts that would earn them cash. Those who could have varying success, him being the most prominent in his field. Based on their conversations and interrogations, he deduced that they had already gone after those people in their line of work, each of them likely trying to decipher his secrets in the hopes of uncovering a clue.

No, the person he needed would have be fluent with the ancient language, understanding of the old ways, ingenious in his execution of decisions, one not to be influenced so easily by his old group and finally, the last person the assailants would think to be capable of carrying the secrets.

And there was one in mind, one that he wished he did not need to bring into this private war.

Groaning in pain, he moved his bloody hands to get himself into position, before starting to piece together the items needed for his plan, his breath getting more rugged and his eyesight going dark. He gritted his teeth and pushed on, making sure that he conveyed what was needed to the authorities and more importantly, the person he had in question.

It was only a few minutes to get his objective done, but the effort he needed to exert in his state made his pain seemingly dragged on for hours. He managed to finish his idea when his body finally gave way, making him slide down the wall and hit the floor hard, leaving him heaving as his blood flowed out of his body and stained the marble flooring around him. With a feeble whimper, he moved his bloody finger and drew one symbol, before taking his one last breath.

 _'Forgive me my boy, for having to force this on you.'_

=()=

Executives and assistants moved out of the way of the one person that was literally stomping her way to an office with a scowl that would make man quake in their knees in fear. The person in question was a girl in her late teens with unusually pale-white skin with pure white hair tied into a pony-tail. She wore a simple shirt and skirt of light blue and white, with a symbol of a snow flake on her back. Her face could be described as that of a porcelain doll, one that retained a youthfulness of her childhood and almost flawless if not for the one scar over her left eye, but that in itself helped to bring notice to her blue eyes that shone like gems and now had a fire in them.

This girl was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the biggest Dust Company and Technology Giant of Atlas. And right now she was seriously contemplating mass murder.

One of the assistants squawked in terror as she stumbled in the floor in her haste to get out of Weiss's path, dropping the documents all over the floor in the process. Weiss ignored her and continued making her way to the office where she was to be informed of a situation that was dire enough to have both her and Winter called up to the company. Normally she would be thrilled to meet her elder sister, but the issue at hand was so severe that all joy was wiped out. She paused at the door to take a deep breath to recover her thoughts, then with a mental nod and a deep frown, she pushed open the doors to see the situation for herself.

And it was pandemonium.

Groups of people rushing from table to table with armfuls of papers, some of which drop to the ground in their haste. Several men with messed up hair were yelling into their phones while a few tech support staff were hammering at the keyboards, the empty cardboard cups of coffee and their bloodshot eyes being the indicators that they had stayed up all night dealing with the issue.

"Weiss!" The girl turned to find her older sister walk over with an expression of concern that was reduced at the sight of her. The woman came over and hugged her tightly. "Thank God you are safe."

"Winter." Weiss let herself a quick moment to smile back and hugged her sister warmly. "What is going on here? Has there been any improvement?"

"I am afraid to say that is not the case." The both of them broke their hug and turn to the officer standing near them. The man took out his handkerchief and wiped the brow of his head. "The situation has actually worsened before you came, Madam Weiss."

"Great." Weiss sarcastically replied. "As if I getting attacked a couple of hours ago by those radicals was not bad enough, now we have this issue with the servers and machinery going nuts!"

"If only it were that simple." The officer gestured to follow him as they made their way to the front, Weiss occasionally getting pushed back by accident from the frantic assistants who were going back and forth between monitors to fix the issues. It only took a few seconds to get to the front where there was a door leading to the private room. They entered through it to reveal a room that was covered in huge plasma screens all over the walls. Weiss was watching the screens completely covered in streams of data as the guy made his way to the nearest monitor, their green colouring coupled with the movement making her a little queasy.

"So what is the issue?" Winter turned to the man who was consulting with one of the technicians.

"Since this morning, we have been tackling with a virus that has infected our entire system and has been wreaking havoc all over our equipment and security systems. The workers are trapped in the construction building and the reactors have been pushed to their limits." The man said while the technician beside him was hammering away at the keyboard. "We almost experienced a core meltdown and it was lucky that one of the older staff members was around to work around the lockdown to shut it off."

"What about the Dust deposits? Are they secured?" Weiss asked knowing about the company's most prized commodity.

"They are safe. It was sheer dumb luck we went to change the locks the other day and had to use the older models while awaiting the latest versions. The older locks don't carry the chip that is in most of our equipment so they are not affected." The officer assured her.

"I see." Weiss turned to the monitor again to look at the code. "I am seeing a lot of weird symbols, what is it?"

"That is where things get really weird." The officer typed a few more buttons to show some screens with said symbols on what looked to be parchments and stone tablets. "Much of what you see originated from historical artefacts and relics regarding some old kingdom. What little we gathered suggest that the hacker who may have made this virus did so with the hieroglyphs and symbols, likely to prevent people from neutralizing the virus too quickly."

"I highly doubt it is that abstract. There should be more people working on the translation right?" Weiss asked sceptically.

"Yes and no." The officer winced as though it was hard to admit the issue. "You see, the symbols you are seeing a sort of dead language that has not been used for the past few millenniums, so we went to search for historians who could read them. And that is where the bad news start."

"Go on." Winter nodded while Weiss rolled her eyes at the idea of more bad news.

"I think it is best if I showed you." The man typed a few buttons before pausing. "I must warn you, this is going to be a bit nasty." Before the two girls could comment, he pressed another button to show several windows, each depicting different people with a disturbing pattern emerging.

Winter's eyes went wide while Weiss covered her mouth in horror. "Good Lord!"

"Yup." The man remarked while photos of different people appeared on the screen, each showing signs of what looked to be the most excruciating torture given to them before getting a bullet to the head. But it was not the mangled bodies, the amputations or even the torn out intestines that got the sisters' attentions. It was their faces, the expressions of extreme terror permanently etched to their faces.

"Who or what did this?" Winter murmured as she looked queasily at a photo that showed a young woman with her limbs twisted and her neck slashed viciously.

"We are not sure." The man replied as he manipulated the controls. "But this has apparently happened a few times for the past couple of weeks, and it is always the same pattern. Historians who are fluent with the history and language of the old kingdom, each one successful to a certain degree and able to find relics in the most obscure places. And for whatever reasons, they all showed signs of torture and their research were taken away."

"Someone went through a lot of trouble to get it in order to write a virus with those symbols." Weiss commented while glancing away from one particularly gruesome photo.

"We believe it may be something else." The man remarked as he pressed a button to remove all the windows displaying the photos, much to the two sisters' relief. "We think that whoever is doing this is trying to find something, they are just using the symbols as a means to write the virus so that it will take us longer to break it down, like we needed more of a challenge to deal with." The man grumbled the last part out fiercely. The two women looked at him and the other technician who merely gave a grimace. Seeing their glares, the technician opted to carry on the explanation.

"Whoever wrote this virus did it two ways. Firstly, that person made it a self-replicating worm that keeps on attacking the system no matter what." The technician started to talk with a symbol diagram of their situation. "Thankfully we can counter it by cutting off the source of its food, in this case data."

"Go on."

"The second method applied to the virus is the more complicated bit. Whoever wrote this is a genius, making it semi-autonomic in order to counter most methods of erasing it. Essentially it is learning to go against our best measures and somehow in the process, it is becoming a Biggleman's Safe."

"A what safe?" Weiss blinked at the unknown description.

"Biggleman's Safe." Winter replied with a hint of reluctant respect. "It is a hypothetical encryption scenario where someone builds an impenetrable safe that cannot be broken into and places the blueprints inside it to keep the secrets hidden. The idea is such that by encrypting oneself with the same algorithm it is made of, it becomes unbreakable."

"So the virus is making itself more immune?" Weiss tilted her head in frustration.

"That is putting it lightly." The officer spoke after looking through the files. "Damn thing is learning faster than we can kill it, and those symbols are not helping."

"Aren't there any other people able to translate?" Winter asked. "How about the leading expert in these symbols? Surely he is available."

"Yeah, that is the other problem." The officer typed a few more buttons before pausing again. "I should warn you again, this is going to be more disturbing." With that, he pressed one more button to reveal the picture.

This time Weiss did not bother to hold back and ran straight to the nearest trash bin to empty out her lunch, while Winter looked ready to follow suit. "What on earth happen to him?!"

"Meet the late Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck." The officer sounded ill himself as he displayed the photo of the person in laying in a pool of his own blood, but with his shirt open to reveal several stab wounds on his stomach, the biggest one being on the side where his kidney was situated while his eyes were glazed over. But that was not the reason that the two women were horrified of.

It was the crime scene itself that made their situation all the more terrifying.

Drawn around him and the wall above him in what looked to be in his own blood, several symbols and pictograms were made, some resembling the same ones used in the virus code. His body was placed within the center of a six-point star with each tip containing a different symbol and one was drawn on his open stomach, giving the overall scene a very satanic look.

"This was taken a few hours ago in a museum that he helped with procuring ancient artifacts and old text. The police received a disturbance alert there and went to check up on it." The officer started his report while minimizing the window for their benefit. "As you can imagine, it was a major shock to find him there. When they checked the body and the other parts of the museum, evidence suggests that he was tortured for information."

"And after that, whoever it was decided to kill him and desecrate his body like that?!" Weiss looked at the man with disgusted disbelief and fury.

"That is the weird thing." The officer paused to take a breath before dropping the bomb. "The person who tortured Oobleck did not do that. He did it to himself."

"What?" Weiss dropped her angry expression and looked ill again.

"When the police found him, he was behind the security gates that were designed to trap anyone who wants to steal any of the artwork or artefacts in the museum. The broken statue on the floor and security footage proved that he was the one who shut the gate, likely to stop his captors from getting to him." The officer handed a folder containing the details. "There is no way to override the gates without the curator's keys and the security codes. So in that case, it would make sense that he drew those symbols and laid himself in that manner."

That explanation prompted Weiss to go for another trip to the trash bin, while Winter was gripping the folder with a shaking hand as she read the report. She had met the man briefly and found it hard to believe that he would do that to himself.

"Why?"

"The police believe that it was meant to draw attention to the captors, but also to another person whom they should protect." The officer answered.

"Protect? Protect who?" Winter raised one eyebrow, to which the officer pressed another button to show some of Oobleck's work and one part of the crime scene that had initials written in blood.

"Doctor Oobleck is known to work with a partner for some of his more obscure and dangerous work. No one knows his identity but Oobleck has attributed a fair amount of his successes to the partner named Jumile." The man said while focusing on the initials 'JMLA'. "It is a pen-name for the partner, a common practice for people in the archeology or history sectors who wished to remain anonymous but have their work published."

"What makes you think that this person needs protection?" Weiss asked from her side before bowing her head in preparation to vomit again.

"Some of the translators who have basic understanding of the symbols said that Oobleck kept drawing one symbol around the initials, its meaning is 'Protect' or 'Guard'." The officer replied. "Coupled with their partnership, it became clear to them that his partner might become the next target."

"I see, do we know him?" Winter asked as she lightly patted Weiss's back to ease her pain.

"We think we found the person." The officer typed a few more buttons to reveal records and photos. "When we were investigating some of the chatter, we found phone calls and letters to one person, which when cross-referenced with his time-table and his digs, gives us a possibility of 96% that this is Oobleck's partner."

"Okay, do we have a picture?" Weiss wiped her mouth while one of the assistants held the used trash bin at arm's length and went away quickly.

"Yeah, here's what we know of this guy." The officer picked up another folder and handed it to them. "Honestly speaking, this is the last person I expected to be Oobleck's partner." Weiss raised her eyebrow while Winter opened the folder and started reading. Weiss got closer to read the contents while thinking in her head. She may not have met the late Doctor, but she had respect for the contributions he made to the world of history, and of the few she did meet in other areas, she expected this partner of his to be a distinguished person in the ranks of his fellow historians and archaeologist.

Instead she found herself looking at a photo of a young man roughly her age with blond hair, blue eyes and a goofy smile that made him look a little silly. Puzzled at this, Weiss went to look for a name and stared for a moment before turning to the officer with a frown.

"Who the hell is this Jaune Arc?"

* * *

0-0-0-0

* * *

Hello there, here is another idea for the think-tank, this time set in an AU inspired by Dan Brown. I had looked to the best of my ability and I could not find any of the sort, so I thought I try to be the first one. There is no Grimm and no supernatural stuff, but there will be plenty of headaches. Pairings is undecided at this point, so it is anyone's game.

As always, please review and let me know if you want more of this, either as one-shot chapters or as an actual story.

And I put my pen down for now.


	4. Universal Hunter

**Disclaimer:**

The works of Rooster-Teeth and their characters are their own and that of the mighty Oum. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Oum Damn It!

* * *

 **Date Published:** 7th October 2017

 **Title:** Universal Hunter (Working Title)

 **Genre:** Action Adventure, Universal Soldier AU. Rated M for lots of blood and violence.

 **Description:**

 _An elite soldier program was created to protect the 4 Kingdoms in the shadows. Off the books and unknown to public, these soldiers represent the highest level of strength and dedication to the cause of Remnant's protection. But are they prepared when the order is threatened by a group seeking to destroy the kingdom? And for one in particular, is he ready for the truth while facing the darkness?_

0-0-0-0

It started out like any other day in the small village of Bai-Hai on the outskirts of Mistral, close enough to the sea to get fresh seafood while surrounded by enough trees to provide shelter and a small hill for a vantage point. The adults were going about with their work, getting ready to welcome any new visitors or preparing to leave for trading. The children were running about the area, laughing at every little thing and enjoying the free time before going to the nearby school for learning. The sounds of the livestock were ever present but calming to the residents of the village. The buildings were a little run-down, but this was home to them, and it was peaceful.

Then the bandits came.

There was no warning to their arrival, but once the first kill was made, it took the villagers a few seconds to realize that they were being attacked and started to drop everything in an effort to run from the attackers. Sadly for them, they did not anticipate how many bandits there were as they found themselves surrounded by the masked men. The few who attempted to move past them found spears and swords stabbed into their bodies, thus cowing the others to follow the demands of the bandits.

Except for a group of children that broke off from the group and were now being chased by some of the bandits.

"There they are!" The bandits ran after them, slightly hindered by their large frames as the children used their memories of the area and their years of running around to navigate through the tight alleys and corners in between the houses, making sure not to look behind them for fear of getting caught. They were almost to the entrance of the village when two bandits sprung out from the bushes and cut off their escape, trapping them when the others caught up to them.

"Okay little poppets, you have been bad children~" One of the bandits that sported many broken and yellow teeth leered while playing with a knife. "And naughty children get punished." That cowed most of the children and made them cry in fear, but one little girl in a dirty sundress looked at the man with a defiant glare.

"Oh we got a feisty one here boys here!" The other crackled as the leader came forward with a leer. "Think you are a tough one, little girly?"

"You don't scare me, you are just a big bully!" The eleven-odd year old girl answered back with her hands on her hip.

"A bully huh? Well I guess you are right on that part." The leer went wider as he got closer to her. "But once you get to know me, you will think differently." With that declaration he reached out with his arm and…

'Bang!'

That was the only indicator that something was wrong before one of the bandits dropped to the ground with half of his head blasted off by something. Everyone turned to find someone a few meters away and was now walking to them with slow and steady steps. The person in question was a young man just hitting his early twenties with blond hair that was cut to a style similar to those used in the military, something that was enforced by the military fatigues that had unusual shades of green, brown and white mixed together, with belts of pouches secured to him. He had a desert eagle and a combat knife holstered to his right and one sword on his left, and one rifle slung to his back. His blue eyes were dull and somewhat devoid of life as he looked at them with an almost mechanical air of indifference.

"Who the fuck are you?!" The bandits raised their weapons while the yellow-teethed leader stepped forward with the dagger pointed at the girl. "Don't try to be a hero, pal! One move and the girl gets it!" The blond soldier merely tilted his head and slowly turned to look at the rest, pausing for a moment at the frightened children who were huddled together and had some of the other bandits pointing their spears at them.

"Now why don't you drop the weapons and go on your merry way?" The bandit leader sneered at the blond soldier only to pause at the lack of expression on the soldier's face. Chills went down his spine at the sight of those eyes looking at him with a seemingly dead light, as though he was facing a machine instead of a man.

And it was messing with his mind!

"Look Jar-Head, drop those weapons now or else!" The man did not get to say his speech as the blond soldier seemed to teleport his way in front of him with his sword unsheathed, grab his arm holding the dagger and with unnatural ease, cut it off above the elbow.

"GAH!" The bandit cradled the stump that was bleeding profusely, while the blood-splatted soldier merely tossed away the arm he cut off with his sword before drawing back a fist and delivered it to the bandit's face, breaking his nose and sending him flying to the next house. Without stopping, the blond soldier took his blade and swung at the closest bandit, beheading him quickly and splattering the one next to him with blood. Using the distraction, the soldier pulled out his sidearm and fired off a couple of rounds at him and the other bandits surrounding the children, taking them out easily and giving him the distraction needed to take out the other two nearest to him. The children took the opportunity to run to the nearest house and stayed inside, peering out of the door and windows. The little girl was unfortunately not with them as she tripped in her haste to move, attracting the attention of the last bandit who saw an opportunity.

"Don't move pal!" The last bandit grabbed the little girl and lifted her by the neck, pressing a knife right at her jugular. "Drop the weapons or the girl gets a new piercing!" The soldier slowly turned around to face him, his eyes staring coldly at them without caring about the blood on his face or the bodies around him as he sheathed his sword. Despite him being the good guy, the little girl could not help the whimper that came out of her mouth nor the chills going down her spine as he looked at the both of them with something akin to that of a Grim Reaper.

Death.

"You hear me?! I said!" The bandit did not get a chance to finish his words as the soldier threw a hidden knife from the side which embedded itself into the bandit's head, causing him to lose his grip on the girl and drop to the ground with a shocked expression locked in place. The girl merely got to the ground on her knees, her fear now going on a high as the soldier slowly made his way to her. Without a glance, he walked past her to grab the knife and pulled it out of the man's skull, using the clothes to remove the blood and brain matter stuck on it. After securing it, he turned to face the girl, pausing at her expression. With an odd action that could be interpreted as a sigh, he got up and made his way to one of the overhanging water dispensers from the nearest house and hit the pipe with his fist, releasing its contents all over him to wash away all the blood on him. After a few seconds under it, he stepped out and shook his hair to remove the excess water before looking back at the girl. Walking away from the puddle of blood, he paused in front of her and knelt down slowly on one knee, keeping a steady gaze at her before raising a hand with his palm open to her.

The girl looked to him with a wary expression, as though he would bite her if she tried to go closer. Slowly and haltingly, the girl raised her hand to reach out to his, pausing one last moment to look at him before touching his palm. The blond soldier merely closed his hand gently and pulled her up slowly, making sure she was uninjured. Raising his other hand, he started to pat her head lightly, prompting her to lose her wary expression and smile a little awkwardly due to the odd manner he was doing the action. But the action was what broke the barrier between him and the children as they started to move towards him and surround him. Some were still wary enough to keep a distance, but the rest had their fears sated and were now touching his clothes or pointing at his equipment, the boys being the most obvious.

It took a while to calm them down and gain their trust, but the blond soldier was able to get them to lead him back to the village square where their families were held hostage, with the little girl getting a piggy-back ride after shifting his sword to a different spot. As they neared the area, the soldier raised a hand to stop them from continuing before he took out his gun and snuck his way around a building to check. For a while the children watched him be still and holding his gun high. Then to their surprise, the soldier stood up and holstered his weapon before turning to them and gesturing to them to come over. The children rushed over before looking past the house, their eyes now wide at the sight of the villagers freed and more soldiers dressed in the similar manner standing protectively around the area while the bandits were either tied up or lying on a heap of dead bodies.

"Pirvanti!" A woman broke out of the group and raced to them. The little girl waved enthusiastically at her as the soldier stopped and set her down, letting her run to her mother while the other children ran forward to their other parents. It was for a few moments before some of the children went back to the soldier, drawing the attention of their parents to him for the first time. Some were more wary and pulled their child closer to them, while some of the more relieved came to him and shook his hand with tears down their faces.

Unfortunately their joy was put on hold when some of the houses at the far ends collapsed and the roars of monsters filled the air.

"Incoming Grimm!" Someone shouted but that incited another round of panic among the villagers who cried out in fear as the recognizable sounds of Beowolves, Nevermores and Ursas rang out in the open field. But amidst of this chaos, the oddly dressed soldiers looked to the direction where the Grimm were coming through with an expression that was totally void of any emotion. Without a word, seven of them went to the front of the group and aimed their weapons just as the first sighting of the Grimm could be seen at the far end of the village. They waited with stoic expressions as more appeared by the second and were stampeding their way towards them and the villagers, whom were now yelling at the soldiers to shoot the Grimm. The creatures were halfway to them when the soldiers fired off the first rounds of ammunition.

And the starting result could only be described as a massacre.

Scores of Beowolves and Ursas got mowed down by the dozens as the soldier wielding the Gatling Gun went to town with them, bullet shell casings dropping to the ground and piling around his feet. Those that somehow managed to avoid the shots by using the corpses of their brethren were introduced to grenades thrown at them. The Nevermores fared a little better due to their aerial advantage but soon fell victim to an almost obscene number of bullets and missiles used by soldiers situated a little way behind the first line of defense. The expressions on that particular group could only be described as utterly bored of their win above them.

The villagers cheered loudly as they watched the remaining Grimm starting to escape with their tails between their legs, with the children easily being the loudest. But that got cut short with the roars of something huge coming their way. With wide eyes of fright, they turned to the far east of the village where they witnessed their houses demolished by the heavy weight class of Land Based Grimm.

Goliath. More specifically, two of them which were standing side by side as they stared at them with a long gazing stare with their crimson eyes.

The villagers screamed as they started to run away from them, but the soldiers themselves stepped forward to face the Goliaths, their weapons primed and pointed at the Grimm. In response the two Grimm let out a roar before charging forward, their feet trampling everything in their path. As the distance shortened, the first line of soldiers began to unleash their ammunition at them, aiming mostly at the legs to slow them down. It took a while, but one of the Goliath started to slow down and before long, its knees buckled from the deep wounds at its knees.

And that gave it a wide opening for the soldiers to take.

A group of five soldiers shot forward, the blond soldier bringing up the rear with his sword. They fell upon the Goliath and proceeded to deal out heavy damage with their respective weaponry. The biggest soldier armed with mechanical gauntlets proceeded to break off one of the tusks and used it to stab the hind legs of the Goliath, forcing it to the ground and for it to start thrashing wildly on the ground. Two of the soldiers armed with plasma blades went to the underbelly and with a great deal of strength, stabbed them into it and pulled in opposite directions, releasing its putrid contents to the world. The fourth member came up with a big blaster and proceeded to fire upon the Goliath's mask to make huge cracks in it. The Grimm swung its trunk in an attempt to crush him, but the soldier merely leaped back and blasted the appendage off, leaving the creature vulnerable to the blond soldier who came up close and stab the blade deeply into the gap. With a twist of the handle, Fire Dust poured through the wound and ignited the head completely, causing the eyeballs to erupt and spread its juices around the area. The soldier held on as the creature tried its hardest to be free from him and the others, but its movements slowly dwindled and ceased within a few seconds.

The blond soldier pulled out his sword and leaped off the slain Goliath, turning his head to find another group having taken down the other one without too much issues. He slowly walked back to the safety zone to find the villagers a little rattled but alive, and were now looking at them with eyes of fear and awe.

Their expressions continued on as some air-ships of unusual design and color appeared above them and landed in the open field near the village, some of which were recognizable to the villagers as that from their government. Those that had a white cross on the wings opened up their doors to show medical staff who came out to them and started to check on the wounded villagers. Another set of doors from a different group of air-ships opened up to show some of the local soldiers coming over to relieve them of the bandits, and finally one of the unknown planes opened their doors to reveal one general in white military fatigues and bearing one insignia on his beret. He stepped forward with power strides and paused in front of the soldiers who at this point had come forward and stood at formation.

"Good work men!" The general called out to them as they saluted. "The mission is a success. Return to base immediately! Go get yourself a good rest!"

"HOO-RAH!" The soldiers called out before they started to march in rows to their respective ships. The blond soldier brought up the rear of his company and was a few meters away from the ship to be boarded when he heard a voice called out to him. Pausing just outside of the ship's entrance, he turned to find the little girl run up to him. She paused roughly a foot away to catch her breath before looking up at him and lifting her arm to reveal a sunflower in her hand.

"Thank you mister!" The girl held up the flower while offering a toothy smile. The blond soldier looked at her while tilting his head to the side, then slowly getting down on one knee to level his head at her, he reached to take the flower with one hand and gently patted her head with another, somewhat mindful of the blood stain on his hand and making sure it does not get on her hair. The little girl giggled as his hand tickled her head slightly and she saw how awkward he was trying to touch her hair. With a light nod, he stood back up and made his way into the carrier, pausing to look at her and the children who came alongside and waved at him, before going inside and shutting the door. With a huge burst of air that blew leaves and grass in their direction, the carrier hovered and turned to face the open forest. The girl used her hands to protect her eyes from the leaves and tried to look at the ship that carried her hero.

The last thing she saw before the carrier flew off was the image of a Gatling gun with a sun on the left and a crescent moon on the right imprinted boldly on the side.

=()=

 **(1 hour later)**

"All soldiers are accounted for, General. Zero casualties on their part and few casualties on the civilian's side, mostly due to the bandits." An operator dressed in dark office wear and her hair tied into a bun reported as she looked through the information with her monitor. "There are a couple of injured soldiers but their wounds are relatively minor."

"Good." General James Ironwood nodded his head lightly as he looked at the monitors displaying the footage of the recent assault, mentally approving of the efficiency of the soldiers and the swift take-downs on both the bandits and the Grimm. "And the villagers?"

"They are shaken but grateful for the saving. They are also happy for the construction crew to help rebuild their homes and include some of the security fencing." The operator replied as she brought up a screen with a form print out. "Thankfully we have the Mistral Government's permission to do so, and with this operation, we kill two birds with one stone."

James nodded again while lightly sighing mentally with relief. Truth be told, no matter how many operations he had done, it was always a little more assuring and comforting to hear the people voiced their positive if not honest opinions. "How was the soldiers' timing? Anything need to be noted?"

"A decent fifteen minutes since the start of the mission. They shaved off ten full minutes from their previous records with fewer numbers." The operator answered back. "Then again, this is relatively easy compared to dealing with a Grimm Horde back in Vacuo."

"True, although we got a chance to demonstrate their strengths against two Goliaths, we would need to run a few more live simulations to get a decent baseline for all of them." James nodded in agreement as he looked through the data displayed on the monitors. "How about the response to them?"

"That is a mix bag." The operator brought up several windows featuring footage from both on-board cameras and tracking drone cameras. "Most were received with average responses, but there are a few that scared the civilians away." One window popped up to show one soldier dealing out unnecessary force to one of the bandits, with an expression of almost gleeful sadism present on his face. "Like that guy, he has been displaying an unusual thirst for blood for the past couple of tours."

"That is not acceptable." James frowned heavily at the information. This was not a good thing if soldiers were seen attacking with such brutality, it would only breed more negativity to draw the Grimm to them. Something caught his eye that prompted him to lift his finger and point at one of the monitors that featured the blond soldier accepting the flower from the little girl. "What is the news on that one?"

"Ah, that guy? He is quite popular with the kids evidently." The operator gave an amused smile as she replayed that footage. "Seems in the few tours he has been to, he is always the first one to help the children and the one they keep sending their gratitude to. Certainly, a lot more than the other soldiers, that much I can tell you."

James kept up a thoughtful expression as he processed that information. "No other soldier got this type of response?"

"Unless you count getting splattered with eggs, guts and the occasional acid spills, knife stabs and whatever people throw at them, nope." The operator replied. "There are some who are received a bit better than others, but our friend here is the only one thus far who has the most favorable reputation with the civilians, mostly with the local children."

"I see." A beeping ring-tone prompted him to take out his scroll and check the caller. "It seems the lab techs are starting the cleansing program. Could you save the footage for me?"

"Understood General." The operator went about gathering the footage while James proceeded to exit the operations room and made his way to the cryo-chambers to inspect the soldiers. This mission was not normally something he would participate in, but considering the stakes at hand and how he was one of the few who pushed for a stronger response against the threat of the Grimm and terrorists, this was something he had a vast investment in.

It did not take him long to reach the room where the soldiers were being held for checkups after their missions. James paused to ensure his coat was firmly on before he opened the door, the light hissing of the door to alert the people inside the room that the air tight seal was broken and that someone had entered. He lightly nodded at the few workers who paused to salute him, his eyes roaming at the tables where test-tubes, beakers of fluids and documents pertaining to the project were kept neatly while monitors were displaying vitals and other information regarding the soldiers sent on the mission.

The general made his way to the end of the room where a steel door was being guarded by two regular soldiers. The soldiers saluted him before going to their respective consoles to place their palms on them. A blue light lit up from the top and went down to scan their palm prints, before the consoles lit up with a positive green, unlocking the door loudly as the cold air issued from it, giving the impression of something bordering on 'mad scientist' was inside.

In that regard, one would be correct.

James stepped through the door and paused in the corridor as the door closed shut and jets of air blasted through small nozzles to remove any foreign particles on him. After a few seconds they stopped and the light at the end lit green before the wall opened up slowly to reveal the final destination for him. Ironwood slowly walked to the open room and paused to look at the sight before him.

Rows upon rows of cryo-pods, each containing a body that is floating in some sort of clear liquid, their faces totally void of expressions as they sleep while in another room not too far from him, several bodies dressed in skin-tight suits were hung by an apparatus around their backs and slowly moved to another room, supposedly for more testing, making the entire scene a little disturbing for the uninitiated. James took a moment to check his scroll for any last-minute messages before proceeding to the room where the lab technicians were checking on the soldiers who had participated in the mission.

"General Ironwood." One of the technicians spotted him and called out for the others to stop temporarily to salute him.

"At ease. Are you starting the process?" The general asked while looking at the soldier they were currently tending to on a suspended platform.

"Yup, we are just starting it now." That guy motioned to the others to start taking off the components and clothing off the soldier, leaving him in his boxers while taking care to catalog which item was damaged. Once the suit was removed, they peeled back an underlying cover of some broken flesh to reveal some small tubing and wires clearly weaved into the flesh.

"That seems to be quite an injury, would it be a problem?" James looked at the wires with a clinical eye.

"It is just a flesh wound, no major damage to the circuits." The technician handling the equipment checks answered from his work table. "We just need to clean the wound before placing him back into the cryo-pod to heal. He will be clean as a fiddle by the morning."

"Okay, how about the psychometric readings, is he safe?" James asked remembering the footage of the sadistic soldier. Seemingly understanding what he was worried of, the second technician paused his recording to bring up a screen with the vitals.

"For this soldier, the readings are normal, no abnormalities." The technician spoke as he manipulated the data. "If you are worried of the one that showed unusual aggression earlier in the mission, we have him in stasis and being checked in the next room." He gestured with his pen to another clear room where Ironwood could see the subject in question in a similar state as the one before him but with the addition of steel cuffs locking his limbs to the platform while an odd-looking contraption was scanning his head, supposedly to check the brain patterns.

"That is good, I want that one checked thoroughly." James approved of their action and looked around for one more person of interest.

"If you are looking for tall, blond, and popular with the kids, he will be in that room." The technician pointed to a third room where the blond soldier was supposedly being housed in.

"I wish to see him. Is it possible?" James knew that as the highest-ranking personnel, he should be allowed whether they want to or not, but he felt it was politer and more assuring for the technicians to show he was willing to play by their rules, and it showed well. The lead technician motioned to the one who had finished his task to aid the general with his request.

"This way, General." The technician entered a few codes and scanned his eye before opening the door and letting James walk through the room. James walked in to find the subject in a similar state as the rest, but his seemed to be more 'relaxed' if the classical music playing from the nearby radio, the faint scent of aromatics, that one flower from the girl watered and in a vase, and most notably, the lack of restraints were of any indication.

"Music seems to work wonders for him." The technician remarked as he went to the monitor and brought up the data screens. "Some of the soldiers have some sort of item that works for them to actually recover and heal faster. For this fellow, music from Mistral and Vale seems to work best for him. The scent dispenser is another thing that calms him down."

"Is this common?" James blinked at that tidbit of information.

"Well it depends on the generation." The technician explained as he checked the readings. "Our friend belongs to the Beta Generation, the second group after the Alpha Prototypes. These guys seemed to be susceptible to music and after testing them out, we find that each of them have some preference to one genre or so. Blondie here likes two, so it definitely helps to keep him under with music. Certainly helps us as well, keeps things from getting boring." The technician snorted as he looked to the soldier. "And at least his taste is a lot better than the mad soldier back there, his is Heavy Vacuo Metal of all things."

"I see." James looked around the room, noting the difference from the others. "Regarding this particular soldier, why is he the only one that interacts with the children?"

"I think his past might provide some answers." The technician typed a few buttons to display the information on the big screen for the general to view while he explained.

"Subject **FN-1025-B12** , the twelfth of the Beta Generation. Original name: Jaune Arc, only son of Nicolas Arc and Juniper Arc, and brother to seven sisters." The technician paused briefly to nod at the General who looked at him with a wide mouth. "Yes, it is true sir, his parents pumped out a lot of kids."

"Okay~" Normally James would not be caught off guard by the most trivial of information, but the sheer notion of a family having one son and SEVEN DAUGHTERS was something that boggled his mind, and made the general feel the slightest bit of sympathy for the soldier in the room with them.

 _'_ _God knows the guy needed more testosterone_ _in his life._ _And I pity the father as well._ _'_

"Age at the time of collection was 17. Of all the soldiers in the Beta Generation, Jaune here is the first of the few civilians to be inducted to the program. Apparently, the cause of death was a stabbing to the abdomen that lead to excessive bleeding." The technician let out a whistle as he read the report. "Despite being a civilian with minimal fighting experience, Jaune was able to take on an entire street gang with only a lead pipe and his bare hands. The gang in question used to be one of the biggest and one of the most notorious groups around." He pressed a button to show photos of what appeared to be the aftermath of said fight. "He went down swinging all right, took the entire gang of 100 out with him and exposing one of the biggest drug trafficking and human smuggling on the streets. Got a post-humorous award of bravery for his efforts."

James looked to the photos in question, noting the somewhat meticulous manner the gang was taken out, then he looked at the report that described through eye-witness reports and security footage how the soldier was able to take them out on his own. "But how does this tie in with his connection with the kids?"

"Evidently, he went after the gang after they assaulted one of his sisters, one Janette Arc at the age of eleven at that time." The technician shook his head in disgust at reading the assault reports. "They were one of the Faunus extremist gangs that came around the time White Fang started to get violent. They went about attacking a school full of primary school kids and she got a blow to the head and several broken ribs. She barely survived that. The rest were not so lucky." He turned to look at the General. "Guess we know this guy's motivation for saving kids."

"Does every soldier have some sort of quirk?" James asked as he processed everything he knew about the soldiers, thinking it was odd for them to display diverse traits.

"For the time being, it is restricted to a few in Beta Generation and one in Alpha." The technician answered. "Our guess is that some of their last memories got translated to their current behavior patterns. If they are placed in situations close to their memories, they would unconsciously reenact that scene with whatever mindset or emotions." He motioned to the blond soldier. "For this fellow, it is definitely the sight of children in danger that triggers off his memories and turns him into their own guardian angel."

"Hmmm." James frowned lightly as he considered this new bit of information. Based on what he understood about the project, the soldiers were to be clinically dead and to have undergone a procedure that effectively removed all memories from their minds to ensure no interference, but if this was considered more psychological than physical, this makes the soldiers notably unstable since no one would know what would be the trigger for them to go past their programming.

"If you are worried about their supposed triggers, I can assure you we have placed in some safeguards when we found out about it." The technician said as he watched the general. "Depending on the subject in question, we placed more restrictions to ensure they do not go past their programming."

"Is it working?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To an extent." The technician admitted. "Like our friend in cuffs back there, there are a few who seemed to have increased aggressiveness in their actions and they tend to only show under certain situations that we have yet to simulate. It is those types that make it hard to find them until they are in the field. Jaune here is one of the few who do not display heightened aggression or recklessness, rather it steers more into protectiveness to certain individuals."

"With your permission, General Ironwood, is it possible to hold off on the next few missions so that we can run tests on the soldiers to find out who else has the symptoms and preferably take those with anger issues out for further fixing? I get that we need these soldiers out on the field quickly and all, but I would prefer having soldiers who are more compliant and less violent." The technician gave his opinion to the general. James paused as he considered his options. He was hoping to get more field experience for the soldiers but if they were to display some irregular behavior during their missions, the program could be canceled before it can even begin. People need assurance, and he hoped this project would aid in that assurance.

"You have raised some good points. Very well, please inform your supervisor to see me later so that we can discuss on the adjustments and whatever matters which are necessary for this project." James told the technician. "You can come along as well since you have given me some insight about this issue, I will have one of my aides as well so that we can have some fresh perspectives."

"Understood, General Ironwood. Thank you for your consideration." The technician made his way out of the room to inform the supervisor while James turned to Jaune still in stasis, completely oblivious to the world around him.

"You are a brave soldier to protect your sister despite your lack of fighting ability. We would need that type of bravery and dedication around here more than ever with the threats to Remnant." James spoke out aloud as he watched the soldier take deep breaths while the last of his wounds closed off to leave behind light bruising, proof of the regeneration process completing its cycle.

"The **Universal Hunters Program** will surely aid the Four Kingdoms greatly in the future."

* * *

0-0-0-0

* * *

Hello there, here is another idea for the think-tank, this time set in an AU inspired by the Universal Soldier Films (I prefer the first one, the rest seemed corny). Jaune is a super soldier in this story (he is the main character after all), while one of his sisters will be the one going to Beacon. The idea will be to show the darker aspects of the kingdoms and their governments, the flawed ideals of Ironwood's and the general reaction of the public and the teams finding out about the program. There might be hints of Ozpin having some hand in it, but that would be up to debate.

As always, please review and let me know if you want more of this, either as one-shot chapters or as an actual story.

And I put my pen down for now.


	5. Highlander Arc

**Disclaimer:**

The works of Rooster-Teeth and their characters are their own and that of the mighty Oum. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Oum Damn It!

* * *

 **Date Published:** 11th July 2018

 **Title:** Highlander Arc (Working Title)

 **Genre:** Supernatural / Canon AU

 **Description:**

 _There are many myths and legends in Remnant such as 'The Gods of Light and Dark' or 'The Wizard and the Four Seasons'. But there is one that has been forgotten for many centuries, but soon it will return with a vengeance when the world is at its darkest hour._

0-0-0-0

The sounds of metal clashing and yelling resounded in the dark forest in the outskirts of Mistral, ringing loudly despite of the pouring rain and thunder in the area. If one happened to be in the general area, they would be shocked at the amount of destruction that had befallen on the once lush forest: dozens of burned trees that was laid to waste on the scorched grounds, large portions of the earth torn up and thrown all over the area and the occasional splatter of blood. And all of this was done from one end of the mountain range to another.

That same someone would also be terrified to know that said destruction had been going on for three straight days without a delay in between. On that note, that person would probably be a little relieved to hear that the sounds started to lull at the start of the fourth day and stopped near the evening.

At the center of the destruction stood two men dressed in odd clothing. One was an old man in his late sixties, dressed in brilliant robes of black and red that spoke of times long past and were now ruined by stains of mud, blood and burns that blackened the material. His hair was black with streaks of gold and he had a beard that would have been impressive if not for it being burnt at the ends and marred with mud. His eyes were a dark black that seemed to be filled with a hatred that could burn people to the ground, likely due to the evident loss of his left arm.

Opposite him was a young man who looked to be in his mid-teens and in a state of pain. Unlike the man dressed in robes, he was dressed simply in clothes that had seen better days and his scarf was torn in many areas. His armor was heavily dented and scarred, speaking of long years on the battlefield. The boots were caked in blood and mud, and his gauntlets were barely hanging by the thread of the old leather strips. His blond hair was a mess with mud and blood covering it, and blood was flowing from a cut lip. His eyes however were glowing with a defiant fire while showing weariness from his fight, and he looked at the man before him with an air of one who would bow to no one despite his injuries.

"You have done quite well… for a whelp." The man said that with a contemptuous and mocking tone with a hint of grudging respect. "Fighters older and more experienced than you did not get to push me this far. But in the end, you are still too weak, Jaune of Arc." To that the young man chuckled while coughing out blood.

"Right, keep telling yourself that Gordon." Jaune smirked with blood trailing at the corner. "Not very convincing since this weak whelp took away a fair amount of runes and your arm."

"Tch!" The man growled in irritation before he lifted his leg and kicked the young man right in the chest, breaking one of his ribs as he flew back a few feet and hit the ground hard, coughing out blood in the process.

"You are a pest in my side, Jaune of Arc." The man walked over and stomped hard on the young man's ribs, causing him to gasp in pain as more blood gushed out of his mouth. "I have to waste a fair amount of my gold and resources just to hunt you down, a mere vermin like you should not be so much trouble."

"Gee I am so honored." Jaune talked back with an odd gleam in his eyes. Gordon merely kicked him again to force him to his knees before using his boot on his face to force Jaune upwards.

"Whatever, it no longer matters." Gordon raised his sword in his hand and aimed the edge at Jaune's neck "In the end I win, and you know what is to come. You should cease this behavior and accept your defeat with dignity."

"Oh goody~" Jaune sneered before coughing out more blood.

"Blame the Gods for your misfortune, because in the end…" Gordon pulled back the blade to prepare for a mighty swing while having a sneer on his face. "There can be only one." With that, he swung hard in a wide arc, putting in as much aura as he could to ensure that the head can be cleaved off quickly. But as the blade was about to make contact, Jaune seemed to lose his strength and dropped to the side, letting the blade grazed his ear lightly but missing his head altogether. With the momentum not stopped, Gordon overstretched his arm and ended up shifting slightly, giving Jaune an opportunity to push out with his legs and trip the older man, causing him to fall backwards and lose his grip on his sword, making it shoot out of his hand and disappear somewhere at the trees nearby.

"Damn you boy!" Gordon snarled as he rolled on the ground to get away while unsheathing a particularly big knife from his belt. Jaune merely continued to move while grabbing two branches broken off from a tree during their fight. Applying a bit of Aura left in him through them, the branches glowed before reforming themselves into smaller rudimentary looking daggers, one of which had a nasty serrated edge. With a quick push of his feet, Jaune got close enough to slash Gordon at the shin to force him down. Growling at the pain, Gordon struck Jaune with his dagger forcing him back. With a grunt, Jaune rolled on the ground before throwing one of the daggers at Gordon, striking him in the leg.

"GARH!" Gordon howled in pain as he dropped to his knees and released his weapon to try and grab the dagger. Jaune did not waste any time and dashed forward again to deliver a quick slash to the neck, cutting deep into the flesh and his artery. Gordon gasped and hunched over as he grabbed his neck to stifle the bleeding.

"Curse... you… Arc!" Gordon wheezed as he tried to heal the wound at his neck. Jaune panted as he tried to focus his aura to work faster. Not an easy task as he had completely exhausted himself, but he managed to get himself healed up enough to get back on his feet and slowly made his way to a spot where his own sword was embedded deep into a boulder. With a grunt, he pulled the broadsword out of it, stumbling slightly from the momentum. With another grunt he made his way to Gordon who had managed to pushed himself up and seating on his knees, still holding on to this bleeding throat while glaring at Jaune..

"Well, isn't this a reversal?" Jaune drawled as he spit out some blood. "I think I did well on this."

"You think you have beaten me?! You are a mere whelp, I have lived longer than you!" Gordon yelled as he removed his hand to reveal the wound had healed enough to show the flesh and some of the reconnecting nerves, and made to grab the dagger embedded in his leg. Jaune merely swung his sword at the right angle to cut off his arm at the elbow, making the appendage fly off with the dagger.

"ARRRHGGH!" Gordon screamed while flailing on the ground, having lost his balance without any arms to prop himself up. Jaune merely flicked his sword before continuing forward.

"No wait, stay back!" Gordon tried to move backwards with only his legs, stumbling every odd movement. "Don't get any closer."

"Why Gordon, I am hurt." Jaune placed a weary hand over his heart as he slowly walked while lightly dragging the blade. "I believe your exact words were... 'You should cease this behavior and accept your defeat with dignity'."

"I get it, you are not a whelp. I was wrong!" Gordon tried to smile barring the pain and fear of the situation. "I can see that you are better than those others who came before. You do not need to do this, we can work together to find the others and eliminate them!"

"And why should I do that?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at his obvious stalling and lying.

"You need someone to teach you, you have all that raw potential in you, just wasting away. Let me guide you, together we can rule Remnant!" Gordon started spewing out nonsense that came to mind. "We do not need to kill one another, we can be the kings of all four kingdoms!"

Jaune gripped his blade tighter as Gordon's words sparked an unwanted memory. A memory of an old man who appeared before him, lamenting about wasted potential inside him and needing guidance.

A man that doomed him to pain and suffering.

A man that forced him down this cursed path.

A man that made him lose his family.

"Blame the Gods for your misfortune, because in the end…" Jaune glared at Gordon who realized that his pitch merely made his situation worse and tried to move quickly to get away from his impending doom.

"No wait! STOP PLEASE!" Gordon wailed as Jaune lifted his blade, the edge gleaming beneath the moonlight.

"There can be only one."

'SHRRING!'

With a quick swing of the blade, Gordon's head went flying a few feet away from the decapitated body, his expression permanently fixed onto his face. The body itself collapsed to the ground soon after like a puppet removed from its strings.

Jaune hefted hard as he looked at the corpse and the head with tired eyes. It was odd for him to be feeling this after so many years, but he still felt deep regret at having to perform the deed despite Gordon's desire to kill him. No matter how long he had been at it, Jaune always felt sorrow and pain at having to spill blood with his sword.

"..."

"Yeah, I am okay." Jaune spoke softly seemingly to no one but to himself. "Just burnt out."

"..."

"I know, this sucks big time. Thanks for caring."

"..."

"Well at least the easy part is done." Jaune snorted as the wind started to pick up and the trees shook ominously in the area, with dark clouds gathering above him with rumbles of thunder in the distance. "Now to deal with the other part."

"..."

"Oh you are one to talk pal!" Jaune rolled his eyes. "Then again you always make it sound like a bore."

"..."

"Oh I am so shaking in my boots." Jaune shook his head as the clouds now formed above him with small bolts of lightning appearing in the area. The small animals and birds that still remained in the forest decided to leave at this moment, their animal instincts warning them of the higher powers that were descending in this area. Jaune looked up once more and grimaced at the lightning hitting some of the far-off hills.

"Here comes the part I hate."

The lightning picked up in intensity while the thunder roared in the open space, then with a burst of bright light, lightning bolts started to hit the ground around him, igniting the pieces of trees and alighting the area ablaze, leaving him and the corpse surrounded in a ring of fire that seemed to have a life of its own. Then with another bright flash, several bolts of electricity struck him and maintained their current around him.

"GARRRRRGHHH!" Jaune let out a scream of pain as the lightning surged through him and around him, lifting him off his feet and into the air. A second bolt of lightning hit the corpse and started lifting it off the ground, its clothes catching fire as it hovered in the air. From the chest, a ghostly flame came out of it and started building up in size in tandem with the amount of lightning bolts striking the corpse. In no time at all, the corpse was reduced to ashes, leaving behind a ball of bluish flames with a touch of purple mixed in it. With another bolt of lightning hitting it, the ball flew at Jaune and slammed into him, merging its essence with his.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Jaune let out another scream that almost tore his throat as the ball of flames forced itself into his body, the memories of Gordon fleeting through his mind while his life essence and powers battled with the conquered for dominance of the body. From his eyes and mouth, a ghostly flame exuded from them, shifting colors between a ghostly blue to a raging red. The lightning bolts kept striking him and the surrounding area a few more times before he let out one last yell and a wave of energy exuded from him, extinguishing the fire around him and destroying the few trees that were still standing. He hit the ground hard, creating a small crater from the fist he slammed into the ground and actually blowing away the clouds that were gathered above him, clearing the sky and revealing the stars and moon once more. He panted for a while with sweat running down the brow of his face before raising his head, the fiery light now gone and a look of exhaustion on him that gave the appearance of him gaining a few more years in a few minutes.

Which was a pretty accurate description if people knew what to look for.

"Hah~ for a guy boasting of his years of survival, he only had a couple of centuries more than me." Jaune snorted as he slowly pushed himself off the ground, picked up his weapon and made his way to where he left behind his bag. He paused to raise his arm and closed his eyes to focus on finding an item. He did not need to wait long as he heard the tell-tale sounds of resonance, and within a few moments, his hand felt the handle of the sword that once belonged to Gordon. The sword runes glowed red as it did not recognize his Aura signature at first and attempted to fight back, but with him flooding it with his Aura and the residual presence of Gordon's, it did not take long for the red to diminish and for a light blue to take its place, finally taking on a hue of sky blue.

Nodding at the quick acceptance, Jaune retrieved the scabbard and sheathed it, before an odd colored cube appeared over his shoulder with a light hum emitting from it. Lifting his arm, Jaune pushed the sword into the cube and watched it get absorbed into it, the surface of the cube lightly shaking from the contact to give the appearance of the sword entering water. He dismissed the cube after the sword was gone, then with a light crack of his neck, went about picking his equipment up. He had to move quickly as the destruction would likely attract both the Grimm and the Mistral authorities.

He and Gordon were not exactly the textbook example of 'quiet '.

Jaune paused one last time at the spot where his opponent once laid, now charred black where the lightning hit it and had what looked to be a symbol of a serpent with its head pulled back and its tongue stabbed with a knife. That was the old family crest of Gordon from the old ages, and now the line was cut off by his own hands. With an unconscious movement, Jaune glanced at the other blade strapped to his waist, where the pommel displayed prominently a crest of two crescent moons on the sides.

His family crest.

With another glance in the other direction, Jaune moved his hand to take out the relatively small disc that was in his pocket and inspect it with the moonlight shining on it. Littered all over it were different symbols and designs, each one more ornate than the last and as detailed as it was first inscribed. As he watched, one of the blank spots glowed red briefly with the scent of burning metal coming off it, before abruptly dimming to reveal Gordon's family crest inscribed on it. With a sigh, Jaune pocketed the item and checked his equipment once more before making his way out of the area, just in the nick of time as he could hear the sounds of the airships humming in the distance.

As with so many others in the past, Jaune now held the soul of the defeated warrior inside of himself and the mark of his victory on the disc. A part of him had hoped that was the end, but the blank spots on the disc proved that he still had a long way to go before the end of that journey. Against his will, he was forced to walk the earth to find the next one to vanquish.

This was his burden for the past 180 years.

And every day, he wished he could be rid of it.

The curse of being a Highlander.

* * *

0-0-0-0

* * *

Hello there, (puts on dark glasses, plays Terminator song, put on Austrian accent) **I'm Back!**

Took a while to get this idea written out, I had something of a plot but I was not sure how to get it out properly in the manner I want. There are some stories out there that portray Jaune as an immortal but they seemed 'off' in some manner (Not sure how to describe it). For this, I am thinking that the pairing can be Amber, Pyrrha and perhaps Vernal (?). Not sure if Jaune would be part of the Beacon Team, because part of the plot is Jaune going against Ozpin and Ironwood.

This is a rough concept, so please R-&-R, and let me know if you want more one-shot chapters of this or perhaps a full story.

And I put my pen down for now.

Can you hear the theme music for this? XD


	6. Venomous Symbiosis (Trailer)

**Disclaimer:**

The works of Rooster-Teeth and their characters are their own and that of the mighty Oum. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Oum Damn It!

* * *

 **Date Published:** 24th Nov 2018

 **Title:** Venomous Symbiosis (Trailer Version)

 **Genre:** AU, no Grimm. Have some Marvel Comics elements.

 **Description:**

 _Jaune and his team work for the Vale News Corporation. Their task: to seek out the truth on matters covered up by the governments. But an investigation to find a missing friend got them into contact that was perhaps more than they could handle..._

0-0-0-0

 _A blond young man drove a motorcycle to a parking lot outside of a prison, before walking down the corridor in the prison to talk to some of the prisoners…_

 ** _"My name is Jaune Arc, and I work as a reporter for the Vale News Corporation. My partners and I go around Remnant to follow leads that don't want to be followed, chased stories that are often forgotten by people, and sometimes look into those that the governments don't want people poking around."_**

 ** _"Ruby Rose deals with the cases of missing people, partly to look for clues for her missing sister..."_**

 _A black-haired teen going through stacks of documents with photos clipped to each one, with a blond woman in one..._

 ** _"Velvet Scarlatina handles cases that are often overlooked either by willful negligence or people who would rather have them buried..."_**

 _A scene of a brown-haired woman taking snapshots of a crime scene and checking her notebook before gazing at a doll covered in blood with a sad expression…_

 ** _"As for me… I tend to question the matters that governments won't bother looking into or try to cover up."_**

 _A crash site in a forest with a burning wreck of a bullhead, followed by the lowering of canisters containing slime that was moving about inside into metal cases that get driven to an off-site location before getting revealed by a silver-haired man in a suit with a dark-haired woman standing behind in a red dress with a dark smile on her face…_

 ** _"2 months ago, Ruby went missing chasing a lead on her sister, Yang Xiao Long whom supposedly disappeared around a research facility owned by Salem Bio Corporations. Velvet and I took a while to look through her books to get to the conclusion she had, and more importantly a location for me to start the investigation..."_**

 _A scene of Jaune and Velvet looking through Ruby's table of documents for information, followed by a scene of Jaune sneaking into a research facility that had glass cubicles built around him…_

 ** _"It seemed like a routine investigation for me with the added issue of rescuing my friend..."_**

 _Jaune turning in shock to find Ruby and three other women kept inside one cell with corpses found in others, some covered in a weird cocoon…_

 ** _"But in this case, I had the feeling I may have bitten off more than I could handle..."_**

 _Jaune leading Ruby and the others out before getting attacked by one of the captives who broke out of the cell and tackled him to the ground…_

 _Jaune running through a forest while sounds of roaring filled the air…_

 _Jaune stumbling into his apartment with the women following him, him grabbing some pills and swallowing them as he looked at the mirror…_

 _" **And I did not realize at the time, that I was already..."**_

 ** _["Jaune..."]_**

 _'Who say that?!' Jaune turned around in the apartment in a panic while the others tried to calm him down…_

 ** _"Taken..."_**

 _Jaune looking up with his eyes changing color…_

 _Scene changes to a view of Vale before switching to the inside of a laboratory…_

 _'Humanity is flawed. Remnant is doomed.' Cinder spoke as she walked in front of a glass cell where a person was frantically banging on the glass to be free. 'Look around you, what do you see? A world on the brink of collapse.'_

 _'We are disposable, mere parts to be replaced. But man and symbiote combined...' Cinder continued to narrate as a canister containing said organism opened up, allowing the creature to flow out of it and go towards the man…_

 _'We can become a new race, a new species to populate this world.' Cinder smirked in approval as the creature forced itself on the captive to bond with disastrous results. 'A higher life-form to rule Remnant.'_

 _A scene of Jaune throwing stuff in a science laboratory and grabbing his head as his body flickers back and forth with dark outlines covering him as though it was trying to change form…_

 _Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha and Blake making a loose circle around him in his apartment to calm him down…_

 _'What is happening to me?!' Jaune yelled as he slammed both arms into the ground, creating cracks from the impact..._

 _'What the hell do you want from me?!' Jaune looking at his reflection in a window only to find a dark creature with white eyes and leering mouth looked back at him. Immediately after Jaune gets flung to the wall and promptly stuck upon contact as Jaune struggled to regain control of his body._

 ** _["You will find out"]_**

 _A scene of Ruby and the women displaying different abilities as they fight against the people coming after them, while armed men tried to subdue Jaune only to knocked away by black tendrils…_

 _'Miss Fall is wanting her property returned, Mr Arc.' Mercury smirked before firing a gun at Jaune..._

 _'Stop please!' Jaune pleaded as the black slime covered his arms and started to strangle one man while pummeling another..._

 _A scene of Jaune in a car chase as he tries to get the women to safety in a stolen truck, while they used their tendrils to crash their vehicles…_

 _'I am sorry Jaune, but I don't think we can go back to our normal lives after this.' Ruby said as red slime covered her right arm to demonstrate. 'Each of us have been changed, and so are you now.'_

 _'We can't just hurt other people. If we must fight, then we only attack the bad ones.' Jaune tried to reason with the symbiote that is inside him, only for a tendril to appear from his arm and form a head with white eyes and sharp teeth…_

 ** _["The way I see it Jaune..."]_**

 _A scene of Jaune fending off attacks from a rampaging Yang, switched to Blake running up a wall with gray tendrils on her legs, switched to Pyrrha creating a shield and a crude blade as she faced off against a small group of soldiers…_

 ** _["We can do..."]_**

 _A scene of Jaune's office getting blown up by a man with a rocket launcher, switched to Jaune getting chased down the street on a motorcycle…_

 ** _["Whatever we want."]_**

 _A scene of Jaune having his broken leg fixed by a symbiote as the black slime covered his body, grabbing a henchman by the neck as his head gets covered and shaped to form a face with wide white eyes and a mouth full of teeth…_

 ** _["Do we have a deal?"]_**

 _Ruby, Yang, Blake and Pyrrha looked in horror as the transformation completed itself..._

 _ **["Eyes, lungs, pancreas… So many snacks, so little time"]** The symbiote spoke in a hungry tone before extending its long tongue to lick the face of the henchman as he screamed in terror…_

 _Quick scenes showing armed men storming an office building, Jaune calling forth a tendril to stop bullets fired at him, Ruby creating a red scythe to cut down her enemies, Blake creating clones of herself to attack, Yang transforming into a yellowish red creature with huge claws, Pyrrha slamming her fist into the ground to fire spikes out of it..._

 ** _[THE WORLD]_**

 _Weiss Schnee getting up from her chair looking at Ruby with wide eyes..._

 ** _[HAS ENOUGH]_**

 _Jaune grabbing a scientist by the neck before throwing him to the wall..._

 ** _[HEROES]_**

 _A group of men wearing white uniforms and masks rushed out of vehicles while Adam Taurus walks slowly and forming a blood red katana with a tendril…_

 _'That power...' A scene of Jaune leaping from vehicles and around a walkway..._

 _'It is not that bad.' Ruby tried to downplay the seriousness as scenes of her in her transformed state showed her attacking others with a vicious smile…_

 _'You guys have no idea how much you are scaring me right now.' Weiss spoke looking fearful at her and Jaune..._

 _A scene of Jaune strapped to a medical table screaming as black tendrils crawled up his neck…_

 _A scene of Mercury attacking Jaune with reinforced legs…_

 _A scene of Emerald creating a spike on her arm before cutting down an old man…_

 _'Maybe this is a curse.' a narration by Jaune as scenes of him learning to control the symbiote's abilities interleaved with his interactions with the women with him…_

 _'But that does not mean I can't turn it into a blessing.' Jaune clenched a fist of the symbiote's tendrils while his eyes turned black..._

 ** _[TIME]_**

 _A scene of Weiss and a group of scientists running away from something as the corridor gets progressively destroyed..._

 ** _[TO EMBRACE]_**

 _A scene of Jaune in his transformed state climbing up a building and leaping onto the roof before letting out a loud roar at the broken moon..._

 ** _[YOUR INNER]_**

 _A scene of Ruby, Yang, Blake and Pyrrha transforming into their own forms before charging at their attackers with vicious leers..._

 ** _[DEMONS]_**

 _A scene of Jaune looking particularly happy as he took down a few soldiers with several spikes…_

 _'There is nowhere for us to be safe. We are monsters after all.' A narration of Pyrrha as she folded her arms around herself while scenes of her attacking with the symbiote appeared…_

 _'Perhaps. At least we can be monsters together.' A narration of Jaune as scenes of him getting passionately kissed by the women came about…_

 _'There is a price for having a giant leech in you.' Mercury turned to a bounded Jaune before transforming into a silver symbiote creature…_

 _Scenes of Jaune fighting against Cinder, Mercury and Emerald in their symbiote forms, switched to Jaune getting his ripped off by Cinder, before both symbiotes ripped themselves off in the center to show both Jaune and Cinder…_

 ** _[Venomous Symbiosis]_**

 _'I don't think you understand whom you are dealing with.' Cinder spoke as tendrils covered her arms and fire erupted from funnels in her shoulders. 'I am the one who will bring order and salvation to Remnant.' A scene of Jaune facing off with her in his transformed state. 'Who the hell do you think you are?'_

 _Half of the symbiote's face peeled off to reveal Jaune's face…_

 _ **["We… are Venom!"]** Both of them spoke in unison with a shared smirk before the face reformed itself and Jaune leaped forward with his mouth opened wide…_

* * *

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* * *

Hi all, it has been a while since my last entry for this particular series, and in regards to the late Stan Lee, I decided to try my hand at a movie-style trailer. I combined the two trailers together and took a fair amount of liberty with this since I don't want to be writing almost word for word on this, hopefully it is okay?

This is a rough concept, so please R-&-R, and let me know if you would like an actual chapter for this.


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